Zgoda: Love-to-Golden State trade discussions heat up

Blog Post by: Jerry Zgoda

June 19, 2014 - 4:58 PM

We're a week away from next Thursday night's NBA draft and that Kevin Love trade talk is heating up.

One day after we learned Denver is in pursuit, former Gophers star Mychal Thompson on L.A. radio station ESPN 710 Thursday said he has inside information from up in Oakland that the Warriors are close to trading his son Klay to the Wolves along with David Lee and a future first-round pick to the Wolves for their two Kevins, Love and Martin.

Later off the air, Thompson told a Bay Area reporter his source was someone from ESPN.

ESPN's Marc Stein, who's based in Dallas not in Oakland, cited sources as saying the Warriors indeed now are willing to include Klay Thompson in a trade.

ESPN's Chris Broussard then added in a tweet that the trade possibly could be Love, Kevin Martin, J.J. Barea and the Wolves' 13th pick for Thompson and Lee.

Again, it's more anonymously sourced chatter but you can see where this is going: The Warriors always have, in my book, been among the favorites, probably the favorite, because they have the assets if they were willing to include Klay Thompson, they satisfy Love's desire to go to a place where he can win now, their owner is highly motivated and Love would likely re-sign there.

I don't think Thompson being suddenly available is new. I think the Warriors always have known he'll have to be part of the deal if they want Love.

That said, Thompson and Lee likely isn't enough in return for Love. Taking back Kevin Martin's three years and $21 million remaining on his contract helps, but taking on Lee's two years' left at $15 million per isn't any favor the Warriors are doing the Wolves. You can bet Flip Saunders is saying, OK, he'll take Lee back but he'll want a third piece, either Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green.

Flip told me pretty flat-out today that he's not trading his 13th overall pick, and seemed taken aback a bit when I asked him about it.

It's a dance and there still is seven days before draft night. And with a draft like this where likely no draft picks will be involved, there's no reason this has to, or will, get done by draft night.

In revealing a trade prosposal he said believes will happen, Mychal Thompson on his radio show said at first he was "too depressed" to talk about it and then added that he'd have to talk his son "down off the ledge" if the trade comes to be because Klay was looking forward to playing alongside Love in Oakland.

"It's going to cost my son a chance to play with his former childhood playmate," said Mychal Thompson, who added his son and Love played together as youngsters. "It's disappointing because Klay and I have been talking about this all summer, the possibility of this happening, him and Kevin being on the same team along with Steph Curry. He was really looking forward to that. He thought if you added Love to the Splash Brothers (Curry and Thompson) with Bogut and Iguodala and you tweak the bench, they had a chance to the West final next year. That was what he was really pumped up about."

Don't forget that Thompson played with Flip with the Gophers and Klay Thompson's agent, Bill Duffy, was a college pal of both Saunders and Kevin McHale.

"Flip Saunders is a good coach," Mychal Thompson said. :I like him as a human being. He's a good guy. He was my teammate. I like Minnesota, it's great, except for the winters. You've got to look at the positives for Klay if this deal goes through. You get to play with Ricky Rubio, who's one of the best passers in the game. You're playing for a good coach in Flip Saunders. He'll take a step back career-wise as far as the playoffs are concerned."

One other thing not to forget: Thompson is due to get paid. He's eligible to sign a contract extension starting July 1 and will be a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn't reach agreement on a new contract by October's end.

You can expect Duffy to push for a max deal for his client -- not saying he'll come near to getting one, but he'll surely try -- and I'm sure the Warriors know they must prioritize their payroll. They're already paying Bogut, Lee, Iguodala and Curry all nearly $10 million each or more a year.